5 Things You Should Make, Shop, Watch, Find, and Read Right Now. (Jan 2023)

No regrets, no time wasted, just pure joy all around. I promise. (Also hi! I missed you!)

Hi everyone! It’s been a minute since we last connected here, and I hope you’re doing well, or at least hanging in there? Is that a low bar? Unquestionably yes, very low indeed, but it is meant with love and understanding and awareness that we are living in interesting times, to put it mildly. 

So what have I been up to since my last dispatch? Oh, the usual: working a lot, trying to carve out a more balanced life for myself, whatever that means, and thinking about what I want this space to be.

Like many folks, I’m still feeling a little reflective, and asking myself a lot of questions as I try to figure out the shape of things to come. Is this the year I get over my fear of the gym and start strength training in earnest? Am I going to tackle my personal financial illiteracy? Actually commit to the landscaping project I’ve been putting off since we moved into our home five years ago? Finally try therapy for real? (As a wise friend once said: “If you wanted to go to therapy, you would.” And here I am, still talking about it, ten years later. She knew.)

And am I the only one who always feels conflicted about the fact that I love a project and accountability, but also absolutely loathe goal-tracking journals and all the language that surrounds it? (The vibes are very MLM. There, I said it.) It’s such a conundrum; we are supposed to love ourselves, just as we are, right? But also there’s this incessant, puritanical pressure to constantly improve, evolve, and elevate one’s self, which directly conflicts with self-acceptance, no? This duality feels like woman-on-woman violence and I need it to stop.

(For the record, I’m salty about the conflicting pressures, not the goals and journaling, per se. After all, I am a data-obsessed human who tracks my daily movement and can’t stop shouting about my Apple watch, so I get it. Please do not think I’m yucking your yum. I just want the universe to pick a lane.)

But enough about that.

Moving on. Can we talk about a few of the things I’m deeply into right now? Things that have made my life easier, better, and more joyful? And if you try them or already love them like I do, let’s discuss. My DMs are always open.

MAKE: Easy Broccoli For Broccoli Loathers

One thing I know for sure: This is my year for broccoli, thanks to the world’s easiest and most flavorful miso-butter festooned recipe. If you don’t like broccoli, this recipe’s for you. If you do like broccoli, this recipe is also for you. I make it several times a week in my toaster oven whilst frantically cooking some TK protein (yes, I wrote it that way on purpose) in a cast-iron pan on the stove. I usually don’t have more than 20 minutes to cook dinner, and trust me when I say this recipe has saved me time and time again. And no, my kids don’t eat it, yet, but a girl can dream.

PS: If you have a recipe like this that you adore, please share a link in the comments?

SHOP: Olive Green Shoes (and other assorted items)

The other thing I know for sure thus far in 2023? The only color that interests me right now is olive/army green. 

It started with shoes. A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of fuzzy, big buckle Birkenstocks, an update to the midnight blue suede pair I own and adore. (I wear a 37, and find them pretty true to size.) If you are considering another pair, I can tell you it was an 11/10 decision for me. They last for decades, so the price-per-wear value is really excellent. And, if you need further incentive, might I remind you that olive green shoes look amazing with a wide range of polish colors. I’m forever partial to Essie’s perfect tomato red Clambake, but they’re honestly great with a deep purple-red like Wicked or even a very spring break pale pink like Fiji. 

The second purchase was my personal post-holiday splurge, a decision I made after wearing my original black pair basically into the ground all last year. The shoe? Dior’s J’Adior Slingback Pump in Khaki. Expensive? Violently. Worth it? If I wear them even a third as much as I wore my black pair, then that’s an unqualified yes. (I wear a 38, which is typical for me in heels.)

Other army green pieces I’m admiring? The fashion-insider beloved brand Toteme’s Draped Fringed Wool Blend Jacket, an outerwear style that can’t be produced fast enough. (Seriously, every restock sells out super quickly, and if you don’t want this color it also comes in light and dark gray.) I also can’t stop dreaming about Khaite’s knockout Fallon Herringbone Chenille Coat. Herringbone outerwear is so chic and much more visually interesting IMHO than a simple solid. Of course, this is a super splurge, but if you really want something in this hue, with texture, at an easier price point, try Stand Studio’s Camille Cocoon Coat, which is also yummy. 

Honestly, I think olive green is my new gray. And by that I mean, a relatively versatile neutral color that makes jeans and a t-shirt or an all-black outfit  just a tiny bit more interesting. It also plays so nicely with bolder colors for spring (the aforementioned tomato red, of course, but really it tempers any bright or pastel hue beautifully, plus it works so nicely with navy, denim, animal print, white, and more). 

WATCH: Mary Phillips’s Face Makeup Routine

In the beauty world, I’m beyond excited that celebrity makeup artist Mary Phillips recently just shared her step-by-step face makeup routine, including the best example of contouring that I think I’ve ever seen. I don’t know about you, but most of the time when I see someone applying contour in a GRWM video, I cringe a little. Not to yuck anyone’s yum, but the high contrast contour might look okay in front of a ring light, but IRL…not so much. 

That said, when I saw Mary’s process—which looks 9 million times more natural than 99% of these videos—I was so transfixed, I ended up searching for the products since she didn’t tag or link to any of them, and yes, I bought a handful of items.

Specifically: Westman Atelier Face Trace Cream Contour in Biscuit, Nars Mini Radiant Creamy Concealer, Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Sunscreen Makeup Hybrid Fluid Foundation, Nudestix Matte Blush + Bronzer in Sunkissed—which is somewhat hard to track down now, which I can only assume is the Mary effect—and Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Lip + Cheek Cream Blush Stick in Petal.

FIND: Your Go-To Foundation or Concealer Shade Online

As for how I bought the Chanel foundation online without knowing my shade? I used a couple of different websites that give you suggestions based on a foundation you already own. I’ve worn Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation in 4.5 and Westman Atelier Vital Skin Full Coverage Foundation and Concealer Stick in Atelier II for years and love those exact colors, so I plugged that information into Findation, Match My Makeup, and Temptalia and they all suggested the same Chanel foundation shade, so I bought it. Will keep you posted on how that works.

READ: I’ll Be You by Janelle Brown

My amazing husband gave me this book, and when I tell you to BUY IT IMMEDIATELY, I am not kidding. It’s captivating, suspenseful but not terrifying nor disturbing, twisty, and I didn’t want it to end. Though completely different in all important ways, it reminded me of The Last Thing He Told Me, in that I was so desperate to unravel the Gordian knot of a plot, I kept staying up way too late reading. 

Blah blah blah, so what is it actually about? How about I just give you some broad strokes. If you like stories about cults, childhood actors, celebrity twins, and the slippery slope of the small choices we make that slowly reveal themselves to be bigger decisions than we ever imagined, this book is for you. Also this is going to make a great limited series. For sure. Just saying.

What’s Next!

In closing, I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who signed up for, read, and shared this newsletter last year. You have all been so kind, and I appreciate all the feedback. I’ve gotten a number of requests for more of the try-on stories like I Bought 29 Pairs of Highly Recommended Jeans. These 5 Made The Cut, and I am planning on doing more of them in the future.

Next up, I’m reviewing a slew of workout leggings that I’ve culled from reviews and expert recommendations, but I’m totally down to try whatever you all want. So if there’s something in your wardrobe you want to refresh, but you’re not sure what piece you should replace it with, please let me know in the comments or via DM. 

xxH